


自由 | Jiyuu

by momijizukamori



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 06:57:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2058327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momijizukamori/pseuds/momijizukamori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jiyuu was the Reason that should not have been.</p>
            </blockquote>





	自由 | Jiyuu

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SwordofRebecca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwordofRebecca/gifts).



You stand on a small ridge overlooking what was once Tokyo's Asakusa district in another world, another lifetime. It's a village now, or perhaps more properly a town, shielded from the taller structures of the new Tokyo by the holy river, the birthplace of this world. Chiaki and Isamu stand next to you, watching the activity in the town. Futomimi is addressing those who chose to stay in Asakusa, though you are too far away to hear what he's saying without the demonic senses you had grown used to.

Finally, after a long silence Isamu is the one to speak. "Why? Why them and not us? Were we not good enough?" There's a bitterness in his voice, lashing out. You know it isn't personal, not really - he's looking for an outside source to blame for his own weakness, and in a way, it answers his question. To follow Musubi would have meant all responsibility lies in oneself - there is no room to blame others. Chiaki is wondering the same thing, but the bearer of Yosuga will not show her weaknesses so easily. They deserve answers though - if not because they bore Reasons, then because they were your friends, before, and might still be again. 

"You picked your Reasons to shield your own hearts." Hikawa's had been the same, though you are not sure if he had been born into this new world - and perhaps better if he hadn't. You gesture with a tilt of your head at Futomimi. "He wished to shield others."

***

Jiyuu was the Reason that should not have been. The laws of the Vortex World are that only humans could concieve Reasons - even half-human as you were, your role was that of the catalyst, the final element needed to birth a Reason into reality, unable to conceive your own Reason. But the Manikins were born of human and earth, not demonic blood, and out of all of them Futomimi had the closest ties to what and who he had been before Conception. And that, combined with his sheer force of will, had been enough.

It had been hard, to strike down Chiaki in Asakusa, the demons bound to your service intercepting hers. But she had forced your choice, then - to let Futomimi's then-nameless Reason die with him as you gave Yosuga your blessing, or to stand beside him and face your former friend. After the fight, he had simply thanked you, bowing low, and then gone to help the injured - sensing, perhaps, that you didn't want to discuss what had just transpired.

Facing Noah had been no easier, because Isamu had not provoked you like Chiaki had, and his hurt ran deep. But you had chosen, and he would have stopped you in your climb. Ahriman was easier - the only Reason-bearer you had no personal connection to. Futomimi had fought at your side, silent and strong, willing to risk everything for his Reason. 

Near the top of the tower, he had finally summoned his god. Kinryuu was a mighty thing to behold - a vast golden dragon coiled above you, bending its head down gently to face its summoner. A brief flash of light had obscured them from your vision, and when it faded, Futomimi turned back to you, his face serene. Cupped in his hands was a gleaming swirled stone. "Here. This is a token of Jiyuu, the Reason of freedom. Take it with our blessing." And then in another flash of light, he was gone, the dragon spiralling upward to some unseen heaven. Kagutsuchi had not wanted to accept the Reason of a manikin, but Kinryuu had been summoned, and the bid was backed with your strength - there was no other choice but to accept, in the end.

***

As Futomimi approaches you, Chiaki speaks. "I suppose being willing to sacrifice yourself to protect others... that's a form of strength, too." Isamu rolls his eyes, and gives her a slightly disgusted look, but doesn't say anything, because Futomimi is there, his smile filled with a true joy absent from the Vortex World. He bows low, and you smile and shake your head a little. He knows that formality is unnecessary - you're no longer the avatar of Creation. Just another human reborn into this new world, a world of humans and manikins and demons, and everything in-between, united as best as you could make it. 

"Thank you," he says, and you can sense the force behind those words. "Don't thank me," you reply. "It's your creation, too - I only gave you the chance to realize it. From here on, you're its caretaker."

**Author's Note:**

> Jiyuu - 'freedom' or 'liberty', as an extension of the original meaning: 'freedom to act according to one's own thoughts, without restriction.'
> 
> "The Kinryū-no-Mai "Golden Dragon Dance" is an annual Japanese dragon dance performed at Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple in Asakusa. The dragon dancers twist and turn within the temple grounds and outside on the streets. According to legend, the Sensō Temple was founded in 628 after two fishermen found a gold statuette of Kannon in the Sumida River, at which time golden dragons purportedly ascended into heaven. "


End file.
